Why does it take so long to charge?

Slow charger = slow charging.

12 amps bud

Cold weather slows down my charging a lot. It’s probably just the time of year if it was fine all summer.

Lvl 1 charging (from a 120v) adds ~3 miles per hour charged. Lvl 2 charging (from a 240v) adds ~30 miles per hour charged. Lvl 2 Tesla wall connector adds up to ~44 miles per hour charged. Tons of YouTube vids on it if you want more in-depth info.

12 amps is the slowest charge you can pretty much get which means very slow charge times. That’s more for emergency use or if you have more than 24 hours to charge and not use. If it seems like it’s even slower than usual because you have used this method before, it could be related to how cold it is outside where you live. The colder it gets, it can impact charging times.

Car uses power from charger to heat battery when cold. Should not be as much of an issue when you go to the fast charger. Tip: When it is cold charge immediately after driving if possible.

And on 110. I’m surprised it’s not going to take longer than that to hit 80%

12amp never charges quickly…even in the summer and will struggle more in the winter. I rely fully on 12amp home charging as well but I put like 10 miles a month on my car so it’s never been an issue, and I’m a 5 minute drive away from an SC if needed. I would look into upgrading to a wall charger if you can’t rely on level 1.

I realize this charger has the weakest capacity - that’s why I bought a level 2 that will be installed next week. The change in charge time is what really threw me off, because it’s definitely way longer than it was 2 weeks ago. The only difference is that it’s cold out now, so I guess that’s the issue 🤷‍♂️

I guess that makes sense. Thanks!

It's worth paying attention to actual charging rates, as I have noticed that the predicted time in cold ambient temps is often way off. [See discussion on this here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaLounge/comments/1piqnoo/comment/nt8xrok/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)

Dont feed him this. Take a look at his amperage

I charge regularly on the 120V charger. Works great for me! I remote though so not traveling as much.

> I bought the fast charger from Tesla, but haven’t installed it yet. Read your own words? Where did we go wrong as a species?

It’s still true. Whatever his charging was in nice weather will certainly be slower in cold weather.

When it’s cold, the car will use energy to warm the batteries during charging. That means less energy going into the batteries…. Slower charging.

Idk, it may be apples and oranges, but I charge my IONIQ5 (84kWh) using the 12A NACS charger, it’s 20F temps where I live, and an overnight charge (11-12h) yields 12% or more pretty easily . From 58% to 80% it takes the car 24hours on 10A and 19hours on 12A.

You should be able to change the Amp rate, 12 Amps is very slow. Did you put the charger station location into the navigation first so it can precondition on the way. You may live close to the charger and drove straight there with no time for th battery to warm up. If the battery is cold it can only accept very low charge rate

I’m right there with you. I put 5 miles a week max, and there’s a SC 10 minutes from me. I’m getting my Lvl 2 installed next week. Was just curious as to what caused the difference from two weeks ago.

But 12 amps is still 12 amps. Literally the slowest charge he can get regardless of temps 😭

That’s definitely it. If you can park in a garage it will also help, especially while you’re on level 1 charging.

I like to say this because it is easy to remember... Level 1 is 3 mph, Level 2 is 30 mph and DC Fast is 300 mph. IRL you mileage per hour can be a lot higher but 3/30/300 is easy to remember.

Excellent! We are building a new garage in the future to I have held off installing a wall charger. Plus there is no room in my current breaker box so I’m sure it will all be a fun process. Thank go level 1 cuts it for me! Hope you are enjoying the car!

I’m not sure if you have the LR or SR because it would provide some context as to why it’s taking that long to charge to 80%. While it does take longer in the cold (er when the battery is cold), you would know because there’s a ❄️image next to the Lightning icon indicating it’s slow or taking longer. Your amps and everything seems fine so the only thing I can conclude is that you have a LR. FWIW, I have a much older SR and for 60% to 80% it can take 10-12 hours.

I guess I went wrong when I bought it and the next available slot for the electrician to come get it set up is next week?

It definitely helps in the cold if you can charge in an enclosed/garage space. We have two Teslas and the one that is driven less (only 2-3 times per week usually) is able to recoup the charge used on 120v easily, even in the cold (of course the garage is usually at least 10-20F warmer than the outside, so this helps).

Yes but if you read the post, it says that that the car charged quicker when it was not as cold. OP is fully expecting slow charge times due to level 1 charging, but was asking why it is slower than it was.

Ain’t no way this is a real question. Ain’t . No . Way.

That shit charged like 1 min faster

During the summer I would add 20% in around 20 hours. In the winter I can add maybe 10-15% in that time. It’s always slow, just really slow when it’s cold.

Youre not playing with power. Super power.

first Tesla?

How do you know how fast OP’s car was charging? Based on the post(and basic logic), it charged much quicker when it wasn’t as cold, since it didn’t have to heat the battery.

Obviously I would know. Im the fucking charger

Yep, and apparently I’m way out of my depth.

Yup, some small plug in heaters for a small room use as much power as you are using right now to heat and charge.

That makes sense. It’s my first electric car, so there’s a shit ton of stuff I’m learning as I go. I appreciate the help.

For level 1 (NEMA 5-15 plug) 12 amps 120V you're typically around 4mi/hr = +48miles in a 12 hour period For level 1 (NEMA 5-20 plug) 16 amps 120V you're typcally around 6mi/hr = +72miles in a 12 hour period For some people thats more than enough as they don't commute a lot For those needing more you'll need a level 2 (NEMA 14-50) 32A 240V you'll get anywhere from 20-30/mi/hr, this is the plug that you use for something like the dryer you use For the actual wall connector and installation that one you'll be at 48A 240V so you're getting like 30-44mi/hr Now it'll depend on the quality of the plug as well as any resistance or even extension cords can affect.

lmao

' cause you didn't understand what you were buying. My apologizes . Take the time to research what an EV does and, more importantly, how to use one. cheers

It’s pretty basic truth. I use pretty exclusively a level 1 charger with the occasional super charger stop. All levels of charging decrease speed in the cold. It slows down the chemical reaction. In the winter my super charging times increase 10-20 minutes on average. The decrease is just more noticeable at level 1 because it’s already pretty slow.

Why not just ride a bike?

If you only drive 5 miles a week, you do not need a level 2 charger….

Yep, that's exactly it. You may find this old thread enlightening, with lots of super-in-depth data: [https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/kq39dy/model\_3\_factfinding\_winter\_edition\_effects\_of/](https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/kq39dy/model_3_factfinding_winter_edition_effects_of/) In particular, there's a comment chain where 120V/12A charging was explored, and in a cold environment (even with the battery warm from driving!) it spent the first \~hour heating the battery with no actual charging happening, followed by taking approximately 10% of the time thereafter pausing charging to re-heat the battery. The car will not deplete the battery to heat the battery, only use the available power, so it can take a *long* time for actual charging to start if the battery is already cold or if power is low. The Level 2 EVSE will be much better, as it will a) enable heating more quickly, b) deliver enough power to likely keep the battery warm from the charging itself, and c) deliver more charge before the environment has as much chance to steal heat. Perfectly normal, and one of the biggest drawbacks to L1 charging -- it does fine for many in the summer, but gets a lot less effective in the winter!

No offense but before you buy something you're not familiar with you should do some more research. This is basic electricity 101

The amount of charge you get is basically current times voltage. A 110V and 12A setup is the minimum energy supply you can get, and it works if you plug your car in every night and it can keep up with your daily usage. It’s actually good for the battery as well since slow charging causes minimal stress to your battery pack. However, if you want a charger setup you can rely on regardless of your daily mileage usage, you need to set up a Level 2 charger that will give you 220 volts and more than 20 amps minimum.

Lithium ion batteries are less efficient in the cold. That goes for both discharging, which is why your efficiency gets worse, and charging, which is what you're seeing here

Technically it isn’t the charger that’s weak, it’s the wiring from the plug back to your electrical panel that’s not designed to handle more than 12A at 120V. (120V*12A) = Roughly 1.4kW output. Even switching up the plug to something like a NEMA 6-15 and breaker for the 240V will get you closer to 3kW output. Your installed charger is simply running on a better circuit that can handle 48A at 240V.

I bought the 5-20 adapter because my 120v wall plug already had the 20 amp circuit. That allowed me to jump from 12 amps to 16 amps. It doesn’t sound like much… but it doubled. I was getting about 15-16% over night. Now I’m getting 30% over night.

Testie..?

We are expanding the garage and my partner is ditching her GMC Canyon for a Model Y so we will have 2 EVs and we’re wanting to daisy chain the wall chargers. Might as well do it right while we are having the garage constructed, right? …..

This. Pay attention to actual charge times. Estimates are way off in cold temps

Did you just plug it in? Is it cold? Did you tell it to go to 100%? It may be using :most/all the power right now to heat the battery to charging temp. After that it will go normal charge rate.

Lol... 12 amps

Get better charger is the answer

You’re charging at 12amps, which will take a lifetime. 24amps will double your charging speed. I have 48amps on my home charger.

At OP's charge rate, which is 1400w, you should be able to put 30kWh in the battery in 22h. So there's more to it than just slow charger. Maybe the car's AC is on. Or battery heating

12v isnt a lot of current (if thats the correct term), for a WHOLE car.

The mobile app sometimes gets bugged and shows the wrong time left to charge on L1 charging, but it doesn’t actually take that long

During the winter or cold seasons it charges slower. I’m experiencing the same thing with a mobile charger. The cars trying to keep the battery warmish while it charges. Kind of why I’ve been going to super charges if I know I need to go far the next day

You are in the US.

This. Mine regularly tells me 24+hrs to charge limit. Then somehow 12 hours later it's full.

What is the temp outside? When it is cold.. a large percentage of the energy from the 110 outlet goes to keeping the battery warm. If it is cold during your winters you will need to install the other charger.

Why charge immediately after driving when possible?

https://media.tenor.com/LVeZa0OwoVgAAAAM/shock-shocked.gif

Big battery slow charger. Driving in cold consumes more energy, charging in cold consumes more energy.

The battery will still be warm and take the charge better/faster if possible

Tapered because you’re almost at 70% though this should go down over time if you just plugged in

Where do you live? If it's very cold then there's that too.

Lmao

When it’s cold I find the estimate in the app for level 1 charging can be way off, often approximately double the ‘usual’ time it would take. It’s overcompensating for the estimated need to devote some charging time to battery heating. Charging in the cold is indeed slower due to the need to keep the battery above freezing, but unless it is truly very cold, it’s never as slow as the estimate in the app in my experience. Just try it for yourself. Note the estimated time remaining before you go to bed, then get up and calculate how much time as actually passed and what the estimate now reads. You will find it’s knocking off more than an hour of the estimate for every real hour that passes.

12a. Answer is right there in the screenshot. That is a slow charger. A very slow charger. Their wall connector is 4x that and superchargers are between 10-20x that.

I use the same slow charge. The reason why it’s much slower is because of the cold. Unless it’s in a heated garage then I don’t know.

It’s probably cold and it’s using most of the power input to heat the battery so it’s not accurately showing time left. It should adjust once the battery warms up. If your outlet is 20 amps, the 20 amp plug is worth it because even that little bit extra helps with the overhead of charging while cold.

I mean if you don’t need it then no it’s not a “might as well” unless you just have $1000 burning a hole in your pocket for the circuit and the charger. I have a lvl 2 but I need it because I drive over 100 miles a day and a lvl 1 wouldn’t keep up(I tried). It’s nice to have for heavy driving so if you can afford it go ahead. I’m just saying you definitely don’t NEED it(Unless your partner is driving 50-100 miles a day).

Because you’re literally plugging into a standard outlet that charges your phone. Getting the level 2 charger installed

This is how long it takes on my 2018 on 110v. Just installed 30 amp charger at home and it gets exactly what you show here on the 220v😎

That’s cause I’m in your garage watching your car. Please keep the light on…it’s dark af in here.

This is exactly what happened. Went from the 20+ hours to more than half of that since I posted.

That’s what I’m finding out. It’s the first time it’s gotten truly cold here, so trying to get some knowledge from other owners (apparently I ruffled some feathers by asking how it works though…) I just replied to a comment - I took a look a few minutes ago, and the estimated time was cut by over half. So I’m guessing it’s cold + estimation time.

Thanks for an actual answer (and not dragging me for asking a newbie question - apparently I ruffled some feathers…) The estimated time got cut by over half about an hour after me posting, so I’m assuming battery warmed up and now it’s flowing closer to what it did in the past.

Adding to this: this tip is good for charging anywhere including superchargers. If you are doing a trip and you know there isn't charging at the destination, charge it before you arrive so that the battery is warm from the drive. Charging the next morning will require the battery to heat up again.

You will love your level 2 charger, regardless of how many miles you drive per week or day. Hope it's not too expensive for the install. And follow the advice given in the replies, plug the car in as soon as you get home. The battery is already warm, leading to more efficient use of the electricity going into it.

Don't forget level 2 can be configured to charge at 32a, 40a and 48a, which obviously charges faster (but you need a lot of space on your breaker box of installing at home).